Smoking article manufacturers have sought to maximize the use of printed markings on smoking articles for product advertising, and internal product control and tracking. Normally, these printed markings are placed on the materials that are used in making smoking articles before such smoking articles are assembled. The printed markings are placed on those materials by printer dies which have raised motifs at their outside diameters that carry the information that is desired to be printed.
The printer die motifs are usually for the brand name and the manufacturer's code. The brand name is intended to be printed at place on the smoking article where it would be visible on the finished smoking article, while the manufacturer's code, which is used for internal tracking and control, is printed where it would be covered, for example, by filter tipping paper in the finished product. When the printer die has two dies, they are usually disposed 180.degree. apart on the outside diameter.
In the past, printing the brand name and manufacturer's code on the smoking article with printer dies during the manufacturing process generally constituted the following:
The printer die motifs are inked and otherwise prepared for printing of the brand name and manufacturer's code on the outer wrap of the smoking article. The printer die is rotated on a mandrel at a speed that equals the speed a web of outer wrap that is moving past the printer die. When the die is properly positioned, the die is moved into contact with the moving web. When the motifs contact the web, the motifs' characters are printed on the web. The outer wrap then proceeds to an another apparatus or station that forms the smoking article rods and attaches filters to them.
Smoking article manufacturers inspect the printer die motifs periodically because they wear down from use and require replacement. Two of the most frequent times that they are inspected are before the first use of the printer die and when problems arise on the manufacturing floor. Among the problems that may arise are that the markings are not clear when printed on the outer wrap, or the printed markings are crooked or improperly oriented. Each of these problems results in a finished product that does not meet normal consumer acceptance standards.
Printer die inspection apparatuses of the past were large, cumbersome, relatively immobile, and expensive. They also required highly skilled technicians to operate them. Therefore, whenever there was a need to inspect printer dies, it involved machine shut-down, printer die removal, and inspection at a location remote from the manufacturing floor. This was a time consuming, difficult, and not a particularly cost effective method to inspect such dies.
The present invention overcomes these problems and provides a relatively simple, easy, and comparatively inexpensive apparatus to inspect printer dies motifs as will be shown subsequently.